Dispenser



Aug. 22, 1939. w. E. AMBERG DISPENSER Filed Jan. 25, 1937 Patented Aug. 22,

UNITED STATES msrnusna Walter E. Amberg, Chicago, m., assignor t6 Universal Paper Products Company, a corporation oi Illinois Chicago, Ill.,

Application January 25, 1937, Serial No. 122,185

3 Claims.

This invention relates to dispensing devices and more particularly to a device designed to dispense cone-shaped'paper containers, such, for example,

, as drinking cups, sundae dishes and the like. An

object of the invention is to provide a dispensing device of the aforementioned character which is simple in design and construction, economical in manufacture and efficientin operation.

With these desiderata in view, a feature of the sisting of only two parts, each of which is of plain, uncomplicated design'.- As so constructed the dispenser is entirely free of moving parts, thereby further increasing the simplicity and economy of design.

One of the two parts of the dispenser com prises merely a dome-shaped member having positioning slots in its lower extremity, whereas the other part is a base member having a cup-emerging area and a plurality of positioning members extending upwardly therefrom for engagement within the slots formed in the lower extremity of the dome. Thus, it will be seen that the objects of economy and simplicity have been carried out. A feature of the invention which contributes largely to the eificient operation of the dispenser resides in the arrangement or shape of the cupemerging area. To prevent the accidental re- 30 support the cups properly within the dispenser, the base is provided with a circular opening at its upper portion which tapers into a regular polygonal passageway at'its lower portion. A cup-emerging area of this configuration permits cone-shaped cups to be removed with the slightest amount of deformation, yet a sufiicient amount to permit such removal to take place without substantial resistance. 1

Other objects and features of the invention will become apparent from a reading of the following specification in the light of the accompanying drawing, in which Figure l is a view in front elevation of a. dispenser constructed in accordance with the present invention;

Figure 2 is a view in side elevation having. a

portion thereof broken away, of the dispenser illustrated in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a sectional view line 3--3 of Figure 2; and

Figure 4 is a bottom plan view of the shown in the earlier figures.

As previously stated, simplicityin design and taken along the invention resides in constructing a dispenser conmoval of more than one cup at a time and to dispenser economy in manufacture are important objects of I .the instant, dispenser. Thus, as illustrated, the dispenser comprises a base l0 and a dome or magazine I2. The base, .which may be of a single piece casting, includes a tongue memberv it suitable for engagement with the customary wall bracket groove and a plurality of vertically extending, supporting columns or guides l6 extending upwardly therefrom. As illustrated in the cut-away portion of Figure 2, and more particularly in Figure 3, the inner edges of the supporting'columns it are flared outwardly to provide flange portions i8 adapted to engage, by means of slots 20 formed in the bottom extremity of the dome or magazine 92, the inner walls of said dome. The inner edges of the columns l6 are so spaced as tohave supporting engagement with a stack of-cups nested within. Thus, in disassembling the dispenser to permit the insertion of additional cups or containers, the dome l2- may be grasped and lifted upwardly to be removed entirely from the base member ID. After the cups are deposited within the base, the dome may support thecups under normal conditions and 1 will permit removal of the lower one without accidental displacement of any others, and with a minimum amount of distortion being imparted to the cup so removed.

As shown in Figures 2 and 3, the upper rim, edge or opening 24 of the base member III is circular in cross section. However, the side walls of the base member as they extend downwardly from the upper edge gradually change in cross sectional shape-until upon reaching the lowermost edge 25 the circle has disappeared and a regular polygonal or triangular opening has taken .itsplace. The triangular mouth is well. illustrated in the bottom plan view of Figure 4 in which the sides of thetriangle are indicated by the reference numerals 28, and 32. When a stack of cups is normally positioned within the dispenser, the lowermost cup is engaged by the inwardly sloping walls of the cup dispensing areaway over a substantial space: The extent of the surface of the cated by the fact that where the walls or such base slope inwardly and downwardly, the slope corresponds substantially to the contour or shape of the cup, and thus the stack is supported by engagement with the lowermost cup along three uniformly spaced areas which are located at the central portions of the downwardly and inwardly sloping triangular side walls. It will be appreciated also, as seen from Figures 3 and 4, that the wall of the base member ill, in addition to the downwardly and inwardly sloping sides, comprises downwardly and outwardly extending portions which form the apexes of the triangular shaped opening. Upon the lowermost cup, illustrated by the dotted lines A in Figures 1 and 2, being grasped by the fingers of a user, the downwardly exerted pressure causes the cup to detach itself from the stack and move downwardly through the cup-emerging area. As this movement takes place the mouth of the cup is changed to conform to the configuration of the side walls and as the triangular shape is assumed the separated cup reaches the lower edge of the passageway. Accidental displacement of more thanone cup at a time is efliciently and firmly prevented by means of the sloping side walls of the base member l0. As pressure is exerted to remove the lowermost cup the containers directly thereabove have firm frictional engagement with the sloping side walls of 'the base over an area of substantial width or depth which assures satisfactory operation. For example, if two cups should start moving when a user intends to remove the lowermost only, the second, by virtue of its continual and prolonged engagement with the sloping side walls of the base, would eventu ally come to rest, permitting the removal of only the cup intended. 'In order to demonstrate the eiilciency or the retaining ring or base ill in supporting a stack 01' cups, it may be pointed out that the only way to move a stack of cups through the discharge opening is by removing them from the bottom o f the stack. Pressure applied to the topof the stack merely results in more firmly seating the cups upon the inwardly sloping portions of the base, thereby causing these portions to act as a downward movement. Although the mouth of the cup-emerging area has been disclosed herein as of triangular shape, it must be appreciated that itmay assume other suitable regular, 1. e., having sides of equal length, polygonal shapes.

By means of regular polygonal openings the shelf and to resist any claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Pat- 1 ent of the United Sates is:

1. A dispensing device for converging side walls, said emerging area with alternately arranged portions sloping downwardly and inwardly in general conpaper cups having formity to the converging side walls of the cups and adapted to support a stack of cups, and other portions of said emerging area sloping downwardly and outwardly and adapted to permit the withdrawal of a cup from the bottom of the stack.

2. A dispenser for paper cups having converging side walls and a circular mouth, said dispenser having lateral cup-retaining means adapted to.

hold a stack of nested cups in substantially updevice having an right position, cup-supporting means integrally associated with the lateral cup-retaining means and including sides of a polygon forming an exit for withdrawal of cups from the bottom of the stack one at a time, said cup-supporting means having downwardly and inwardly sloping portions conforming generally to the angle of slope of the walls of the cups and said polygon having corner portions into which the bottom cup of the stack recedes gradually without creasing as it is withdrawn.

3. A dispensing device for paper cups having converging side walls, said device having a circular emerging area which gradually changes to a polygonal exit with at least three sides as it progresses in a downward direction and which tapers inwardly at alternately arranged portions in gen- WALTER E. AMBERG. 

